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Epictetus With the Encheiridion, by Epictetus
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Title: A Selection from the Discourses of Epictetus With the Encheiridion
Author: Epictetus
Release Date: January 9, 2004 [EBook #10661]
Language: English
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A SELECTION FROM THE DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS
WITH THE ENCHEIRIDION
TRANSLATED BY GEORGE LONG
CONTENTS.
EPICTETUS (BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE).
A SELECTION FROM THE DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS.
THE ENCHEIRIDION, OR MANUAL.
EPICTETUS.
Very little is known of the life of Epictetus. It is said that he was a native of Hierapolis in Phrygia, a town between the Maeander and a branch of
the Maeander named the Lycus. Hierapolis is mentioned in the epistle of Paul to the people of Colossae (Coloss. iv., 13); from which it has been
concluded that there was a Christian church in Hierapolis in the time of the apostle. The date of the birth of Epictetus is unknown. The only
recorded fact of his early life is that he was a slave in Rome, and his master was Epaphroditus, a profligate freedman of the Emperor Nero. There
is a story that the master broke his slave's leg by torturing him; but it is better to trust to the evidence of Simplicius, the commentator on the
Encheiridion, or Manual, who says that Epictetus was weak in body and lame from an early age. It is not said how he became a slave; but it has
been asserted in modern times that the parents sold the child. I have not, however, found any authority for this statement.
It may be supposed that the young slave showed intelligence, for his master sent or permitted him to attend the lectures of C. Musonius Rufus,
an eminent Stoic philosopher. It may seem strange that such a master should have wished to have his slave made into a philosopher; but Garnier,
the author of a "Mémoire sur les Ouvrages d'Epictète," explains this matter very well in a communication to Schweighaeuser. Garnier says:
"Epictetus, born at Hierapolis of Phrygia of poor parents, was indebted apparently for the advantages of a good education to the whim, which was
common at the end of the Republic and under the first emperors, among the great of Rome to reckon among their numerous slaves grammarians,
poets, rhetoricians, and philosophers, in the same way as rich financiers in these later ages have been led to form at a great cost rich and numerous
libraries. This supposition is the only one which can explain to us how a wretched child, born as poor as Irus, had received a good education, and
how a rigid Stoic was the slave of Epaphroditus, one of the officers of the imperial guard. For we cannot suspect that it was through predilection
for the Stoic doctrine, and for his own use, that the confidant and the minister of the debaucheries of Nero would have desired to possess such a
slave."
Some writers assume that Epictetus was manumitted by his master, but I can find no evidence for this statement. Epaphroditus accompanied
Nero when he fled from Rome before his enemies, and he aided the miserable tyrant in killing himself. Domitian (Sueton., Domit. 14), afterwards
put Epaphroditus to death for this service to Nero. We may conclude that Epictetus in some way obtained his freedom, and that he began to teach
at Rome; but after the expulsion of the philosophers from Rome by Domitian, A.D. 89, he retired to Nicopolis in Epirus, a city built by Augustus to
commemorate the victory at Actium. Epictetus opened a school or lecture room at Nicopolis, where he taught till he was an old man. The time of
his death is unknown. Epictetus was never married, as we learn from Lucian (Demonax, c. 55, torn, ii., ed. Hemsterh., p. 393). When Epictetus
was finding fault with Demonax, and advising him to take a wife and beget children, for this also, as Epictetus said, was a philosopher's duty, to
leave in place of himself another in the universe, Demonax refuted the doctrine by answering: Give me then, Epictetus, one of your own daughters.
Simplicius says (Comment., c. 46, p. 432, ed. Schweigh.) that Epictetus lived alone a long time. At last he took a woman into his house as a nurse
for a child, which one of Epictetus' friends was going to expose on account of his poverty, but Epictetus took the child and brought it up.
Epictetus wrote nothing; and all that we have under his name was written
Photius (Biblioth., 58) mentions among Arrian's works "Conversations with Epictetus," [Greek: Homiliai Epichtaeton], in twelve books. Upton
thinks that this work is only another name for the Discourses, and that Photius has made the mistake of taking the Conversations to be a different
work from the Discourses. Yet Photius has enumerated eight books of the Discourses and twelve books of the Conversations. Schweighaeuser
observes that Photius had not seen these works of Arrian on Epictetus, for so he concludes from the brief notice of these works by Photius. The
fact is that Photius does not say that he had read these books, as he generally does when he is speaking of the books which he enumerates in his
Bibliotheca. The conclusion is that we are not certain that there was a work of Arrian entitled "The Conversations of Epictetus."
Upton remarks in a note on iii., 23 (p. 184, Trans.), that "there are many passages in these dissertations which are ambiguous or rather confused
on account of the small questions, and because the matter is not expanded by oratorical copiousness, not to mention other causes." The discourses
of Epictetus, it is supposed, were spoken extempore, and so one thing after another would come into the thoughts of the speaker (Wolf).
Schweighaeuser also observes in a note (ii., 336 of his edition) that the connection of the discourse is sometimes obscure through the omission of
some words which are necessary to indicate the connection of the thoughts. The reader then will find that he cannot always understand Epictetus, if
he does not read him very carefully, and some passages more than once. He must also think and reflect, or he will miss the meaning. I do not say
that the book is worth all this trouble. Every man must judge for himself. But I should not have translated the book, if I had not thought it worth
study; and I think that all books of this kind require careful reading, if they are worth reading at all.
G.L.
A SELECTION FROM THE DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS.
OF THE THINGS WHICH ARE IN OUR POWER AND NOT IN OUR POWER.—Of all the faculties (except that which I shall soon
mention), you will find not one which is capable of contemplating itself, and, consequently, not capable either of approving or disapproving. How
far does the grammatic art possess the contemplating power? As far as forming a judgment about what is written and spoken. And how far music?
As far as judging about melody. Does either of them then contemplate itself? By no means. But when you must write something to your friend,
grammar will tell you what words you should write; but whether you should write or not, grammar will not tell you. And so it is with music as to
musical sounds; but whether you should sing at the present time and play on the lute, or do neither, music will not tell you. What faculty then will tell
you? That which contemplates both itself and all other things. And what is this faculty? The rational faculty; for this is the only faculty that we have
received which examines itself, what it is, and what power it has, and what is the value of this gift, and examines all other faculties: for what else is
there which tells us that golden things are beautiful, for they do not say so themselves? Evidently it is the faculty which is capable of judging of
appearances. What else judges of music, grammar, and the other faculties, proves their uses, and points out the occasions for using them? Nothing
else.
What then should a man have in readiness in such circumstances? What else than this? What is mine, and what is not mine; and what is
permitted to me, and what is not permitted to me. I must die. Must I then die lamenting? I must be put in chains. Must I then also lament? I must go
into exile. Does any man then hinder me from going with smiles and cheerfulness and contentment? Tell me the secret which you possess. I will not,
for this is in my power. But I will put you in chains. Man, what are you talking about? Me, in chains? You may fetter my leg, but my will not even
Zeus himself can overpower. I will throw you into prison. My poor body, you mean. I will cut your head off. When then have I told you that my
head alone cannot be cut off? These are the things which philosophers should meditate on, which they should write daily, in which they should
exercise themselves.
What then did Agrippinus say? He said, "I am not a hindrance to myself." When it was reported to him that his trial was going on in the Senate,
he said: "I hope it may turn out well; but it is the fifth hour of the day"—this was the time when he was used to exercise himself and then take the
cold bath,—"let us go and take our exercise." After he had taken his exercise, one comes and tells him, "You have been condemned." "To
banishment," he replies, "or to death?" "To banishment." "What about my property?" "It is not taken from you." "Let us go to Aricia then," he said,
"and dine."
HOW A MAN ON EVERY OCCASION CAN MAINTAIN HIS PROPER CHARACTER.—To the rational animal only is the irrational
intolerable; but that which is rational is tolerable. Blows are not naturally intolerable. How is that? See how the Lacedaemonians endure whipping
when they have learned that whipping is consistent with reason. To hang yourself is not intolerable. When then you have the opinion that it is
rational, you go and hang yourself. In short, if we observe, we shall find that the animal man is pained by nothing so much as by that which is
irrational; and, on the contrary, attracted to nothing so much as to that which is rational.
Only consider at what price you sell your own will: if for no other reason, at least for this, that you sell it not for a small sum. But that which is
great and superior perhaps belongs to Socrates and such as are like him. Why then, if we are naturally such, are not a very great number of us like
him? Is it true then that all horses become swift, that all dogs are skilled in tracking footprints? What then, since I am naturally dull, shall I, for this
reason, take no pains? I hope not. Epictetus is not superior to Socrates; but if he is not inferior, this is enough for me; for I shall never be a Milo,
and yet I do not neglect my body; nor shall I be a Croesus, and yet I do not neglect my property; nor, in a word, do we neglect looking after
anything because we despair of reaching the highest degree.
HOW A MAN SHOULD PROCEED FROM THE PRINCIPLE OF GOD BEING THE FATHER OF ALL MEN TO THE REST.—If a
man should be able to assent to this doctrine as he ought, that we are all sprung from God in an especial manner, and that God is the father both of
men and of gods, I suppose that he would never have any ignoble or mean thoughts about himself. But if Cæsar (the emperor) should adopt you,
no one could endure your arrogance; and if you know that you are the son of Zeus, will you not be elated? Yet we do not so; but since these two
things are mingled in the generation of man, body in common with the animals, and reason and intelligence in common with the gods, many incline
to this kinship, which is miserable and mortal; and some few to that which is divine and happy. Since then it is of necessity that every man uses
everything according to the opinion which he has about it, those, the few, who think that they are formed for fidelity and modesty and a sure use of
appearances have no mean or ignoble thoughts about themselves; but with the many it is quite the contrary. For they say, What am I? A poor,
miserable man, with my wretched bit of flesh. Wretched, indeed; but you possess something better than your bit of flesh. Why then do you neglect
that which is better, and why do you attach yourself to this?
Through this kinship with the flesh, some of us inclining to it become like wolves, faithless and treacherous and mischievous; some become like
lions, savage and bestial and untamed; but the greater part of us become foxes, and other worse animals. For what else is a slanderer and
malignant man than a fox, or some other more wretched and meaner animal? See then and take care that you do not become some one of these
miserable things.
OF PROGRESS OR IMPROVEMENT.—He who is making progress, having learned from philosophers that desire means the desire of good
things, and aversion means aversion from bad things; having learned too that happiness and tranquillity are not attainable by man otherwise than by
not failing to obtain what he desires, and not falling into that which he would avoid; such a man takes from himself desire altogether and confers it,
but he employs his aversion only on things which are dependent on his will. For if he attempts to avoid anything independent of his will, he knows
that sometimes he will fall in with something which he wishes to avoid, and he will be unhappy. Now if virtue promises good fortune and tranquillity
and happiness, certainly also the progress towards virtue is progress towards each of these things. For it is always true that to whatever point the
perfecting of anything leads us, progress is an approach towards this point.
How then do we admit that virtue is such as I have said, and yet seek progress in other things and make a display of it? What is the product of
virtue? Tranquillity. Who then makes improvement? Is it he who has read many books of Chrysippus? But does virtue consist in having understood
Chrysippus? If this is so, progress is clearly nothing else than knowing a great deal of Chrysippus. But now we admit that virtue produces one
thing, and we declare that approaching near to it is another thing, namely, progress or improvement. Such a person, says one, is already able to
read Chrysippus by himself. Indeed, sir, you are making great progress. What kind of progress? But why do you mock the man? Why do you
draw him away from the perception of his own misfortunes? Will you not show him the effect of virtue that he may learn where to look for
improvement? Seek it there, wretch, where your work lies. And where is your work? In desire and in aversion, that you may not be disappointed
in your desire, and that you may not fall into that which you would avoid; in your pursuit and avoiding, that you commit no error; in assent and
suspension of assent, that you be not deceived. The first things, and the most necessary are those which I have named. But if with trembling and
lamentation you seek not to fall into that which you avoid, tell me how you are improving.
Do you then show me your improvement in these things? If I were talking to an athlete, I should say, Show me your shoulders; and then he
might say, Here are my Halteres. You and your Halteres look to that. I should reply, I wish to see the effect of the Halteres. So, when you say:
Take the treatise on the active powers ([Greek: hormea]), and see how I have studied it, I reply: Slave, I am not inquiring about this, but how you
exercise pursuit and avoidance, desire and aversion, how you design and purpose and prepare yourself, whether conformably to nature or not. If
conformably, give me evidence of it, and I will say that you are making progress; but if not conformably, be gone, and not only expound your
books, but write such books yourself; and what will you gain by it? Do you not know that the whole book costs only five denarii? Does then the
expounder seem to be worth more than five denarii? Never then look for the matter itself in one place, and progress towards it in another. Where
then is progress? If any of you, withdrawing himself from externals, turns to his own will ([Greek: proairesis]) to exercise it and to improve it by
labor, so as to make it conformable to nature, elevated, free, unrestrained, unimpeded, faithful, modest; and if he has learned that he who desires
or avoids the things which are not in his power can neither be faithful nor free, but of necessity he must change with them and be tossed about with
them as in a tempest, and of necessity must subject himself to others who have the power to procure or prevent what lie desires or would avoid;
finally, when he rises in the morning, if he observes and keeps these rules, bathes as a man of fidelity, eats as a modest man; in like manner, if in
every matter that occurs he works out his chief principles ([Greek: ta proaegoumena]) as the runner does with reference to running, and the trainer
of the voice with reference to the voice—this is the man who truly makes progress, and this is the man who has not travelled in vain. But if he has
strained his efforts to the practice of reading books, and labors only at this, and has travelled for this, I tell him to return home immediately, and not
to neglect his affairs there; for this for which he has travelled is nothing. But the other thing is something, to study how a man can rid his life of
lamentation and groaning, and saying, Woe to me, and wretched that I am, and to rid it also of misfortune and disappointment, and to learn what
death is, and exile, and prison, and poison, that he may be able to say when he is in fetters, Dear Crito, if it is the will of the gods that it be so, let it
be so; and not to say, Wretched am I, an old man: have I kept my gray hairs for this? Who is it that speaks thus? Do you think that I shall name
some man of no repute and of low condition? Does not Priam say this? Does not Oedipus say this? Nay, all kings say it! For what else is tragedy
than the perturbations ([Greek: pathae]) of men who value externals exhibited in this kind of poetry? But if a man must learn by fiction that no
external things which are independent of the will concern us, for my part I should like this fiction, by the aid of which I should live happily and
undisturbed. But you must consider for yourselves what you wish.
What then does Chrysippus teach us? The reply is, to know that these things are not false, from which happiness comes and tranquillity arises.
Take my books, and you will learn how true and conformable to nature are the things which make me free from perturbations. O great good
fortune! O the great benefactor who points out the way! To Triptolemus all men have erected temples and altars, because he gave us food by
cultivation; but to him who discovered truth and brought it to light and communicated it to all, not the truth which shows us how to live, but how to
live well, who of you for this reason has built an altar, or a temple, or has dedicated a statue, or who worships God for this? Because the gods
have given the vine, or wheat, we sacrifice to them; but because they have produced in the human mind that fruit by which they designed to show
us the truth which relates to happiness, shall we not thank God for this?
AGAINST THE ACADEMICS.—If a man, said Epictetus, opposes evident truths, it is not easy to find arguments by which we shall make him
change his opinion. But this does not arise either from the man's strength or the teacher's weakness; for when the man, though he has been
confuted, is hardened like a stone, how shall we then be able to deal with him by argument?
Now there are two kinds of hardening, one of the understanding, the other of the sense of shame, when a man is resolved not to assent to what
is manifest nor to desist from contradictions. Most of us are afraid of mortification of the body, and would contrive all means to avoid such a thing,
but we care not about the soul's mortification. And indeed with regard to the soul, if a man be in such a state as not to apprehend anything, or
understand at all, we think that he is in a bad condition; but if the sense of shame and modesty are deadened, this we call even power (or strength).
OF PROVIDENCE.—From everything, which is or happens in the world, it is easy to praise Providence, if a man possesses these two
qualities: the faculty of seeing what belongs and happens to all persons and things, and a grateful disposition. If he does not possess these two
qualities, one man will not see the use of things which are and which happen: another will not be thankful for them, even if he does know them. If
God had made colors, but had not made the faculty of seeing them, what would have been their use? None at all. On the other hand, if he had
made the faculty of vision, but had not made objects such as to fall under the faculty, what in that case also would have been the use of it? None at
all. Well, suppose that he had made both, but had not made light? In that case, also, they would have been of no use. Who is it then who has fitted
this to that and that to this?
What, then, are these things done in us only? Many, indeed, in us only, of which the rational animal had peculiar need; but you will find many
common to us with irrational animals. Do they then understand what is done? By no means. For use is one thing, and understanding is another;
God had need of irrational animals to make use of appearances, but of us to understand the use of appearances. It is therefore enough for them to
eat and to drink, and to copulate, and to do all the other things which they severally do. But for us, to whom he has given also the intellectual
faculty, these things are not sufficient; for unless we act in a proper and orderly manner, and conformably to the nature and constitution of each
thing, we shall never attain our true end. For where the constitutions of living beings are different, there also the acts and the ends are different. In
those animals then whose constitution is adapted only to use, use alone is enough; but in an animal (man), which has also the power of
understanding the use, unless there be the due exercise of the understanding, he will never attain his proper end. Well then God constitutes every
animal, one to be eaten, another to serve for agriculture, another to supply cheese, and another for some like use; for which purposes what need is
there to understand appearances and to be able to distinguish them? But God has introduced man to be a spectator of God and of his works; and
not only a spectator of them, but an interpreter. For this reason it is shameful for man to begin and to end where irrational animals do; but rather he
ought to begin where they begin, and to end where nature ends in us; and nature ends in contemplation and understanding, and in a way of life
conformable to nature. Take care then not to die without having been spectators of these things.
But you take a journey to Olympia to see the work of Phidias, and all of you think it a misfortune to die without having seen such things. But
when there is no need to take a journey, and where a man is, there he has the works (of God) before him, will you not desire to see and
understand them? Will you not perceive either what you are, or what you were born for, or what this is for which you have received the faculty of
sight? But you may say, There are some things disagreeable and troublesome in life. And are there none at Olympia? Are you not scorched? Are
you not pressed by a crowd? Are you not without comfortable means of bathing? Are you not wet when it rains? Have you not abundance of
noise, clamor, and other disagreeable things? But I suppose that setting all these things off against the magnificence of the spectacle, you bear and
endure. Well then and have you not received faculties by which you will be able to bear all that happens? Have you not received greatness of soul?
Have you not received manliness? Have you not received endurance? And why do I trouble myself about anything that can happen if I possess
greatness of soul? What shall distract my mind, or disturb me, or appear painful? Shall I not use the power for the purposes for which I received it,
and shall I grieve and lament over what happens?
Come, then, do you also having observed these things look to the faculties which you have, and when you have looked at them, say: Bring now,
O Zeus, any difficulty that thou pleasest, for I have means given to me by thee and powers for honoring myself through the things which happen.
You do not so; but you sit still, trembling for fear that some things will happen, and weeping, and lamenting, and groaning for what does happen;
and then you blame the gods. For what is the consequence of such meanness of spirit but impiety? And yet God has not only given us these
faculties, by which we shall be able to bear everything that happens without being depressed or broken by it; but, like a good king and a true
father, He has given us these faculties free from hindrance, subject to no compulsion, unimpeded, and has put them entirely in our own power,
without even having reserved to Himself any power of hindering or impeding. You, who have received these powers free and as your own, use
them not; you do not even see what you have received, and from whom; some of you being blinded to the giver, and not even acknowledging your
benefactor, and others, through meanness of spirit, betaking yourselves to fault-finding and making charges against God. Yet I will show to you
that you have powers and means for greatness of soul and manliness; but what powers you have for finding fault making accusations, do you show
me.
HOW FROM THE FACT THAT WE ARE AKIN TO GOD A MAN MAY PROCEED TO THE CONSEQUENCES.—I indeed think that
the old man ought to be sitting here, not to contrive how you may have no mean thoughts nor mean and ignoble talk about yourselves, but to take
care that there be not among us any young men of such a mind, that when they have recognized their kinship to God, and that we are fettered by
these bonds, the body, I mean, and its possessions, and whatever else on account of them is necessary to us for the economy and commerce of
life, they should intend to throw off these things as if they were burdens painful and intolerable, and to depart to their kinsmen. But this is the labor
that your teacher and instructor ought to be employed upon, if he really were what he should be. You should come to him and say: Epictetus, we
can no longer endure being bound to this poor body, and feeding it, and giving it drink and rest, and cleaning it, and for the sake of the body
complying with the wishes of these and of those. Are not these things indifferent and nothing to us; and is not death no evil? And are we not in a
manner kinsmen of God, and did we not come from him? Allow us to depart to the place from which we came; allow us to be released at last from
these bonds by which we are bound and weighed down. Here there are robbers and thieves and courts of justice, and those who are named
tyrants, and think that they have some power over us by means of the body and its possessions. Permit us to show them that they have no power
over any man. And I on my part would say: Friends, wait for God: when he shall give the signal and release you from this service, then go to him;
but for the present endure to dwell in this place where he has put you. Short indeed is this time of your dwelling here, and easy to bear for those
who are so disposed; for what tyrant, or what thief, or what courts of justice are formidable to those who have thus considered as things of no
value the body and the possessions of the body? Wait then, do not depart without a reason.
OF CONTENTMENT.—With respect to gods, there are some who say that a divine being does not exist; others say that it exists, but is
inactive and careless, and takes no forethought about anything; a third class say that such a being exists and exercises forethought, but only about
great things and heavenly things, and about nothing on the earth; a fourth class say that a divine being exercises forethought both about things on the
earth and heavenly things, but in a general way only, and not about things severally. There is a fifth class to whom Ulysses and Socrates belong,
who say:
I move not without thy knowledge.—Iliad, x., 278.
Before all other things then it is necessary to inquire about each of these opinions, whether it is affirmed truly or not truly. For if there are no
gods, how is it our proper end to follow them? And if they exist, but take no care of anything, in this case also how will it be right to follow them?
But if indeed they do exist and look after things, still if there is nothing communicated from them to men, nor in fact to myself, how even so is it right
(to follow them)? The wise and good man then, after considering all these things, submits his own mind to him who administers the whole, as good
citizens do to the law of the state. He who is receiving instruction ought to come to be instructed with this intention, How shall I follow the gods in
all things, how shall I be contented with the divine administration, and how can I become free? For he is free to whom everything happens
according to his will, and whom no man can hinder. What then, is freedom madness? Certainly not; for madness and freedom do not consist. But,
you say, I would have everything result just as I like, and in whatever way I like. You are mad, you are beside yourself. Do you not know that
freedom is a noble and valuable thing? But for me inconsiderately to wish for things to happen as I inconsiderately like, this appears to be not only
not noble, but even most base. For how do we proceed in the matter of writing? Do I wish to write the name of Dion as I choose? No, but I am
taught to choose to write it as it ought to be written. And how with respect to music? In the same manner. And what universally in every art or
science? Just the same. If it were not so, it would be of no value to know anything, if knowledge were adapted to every man's whim. Is it then in
this alone, in this which is the greatest and the chief thing, I mean freedom, that I am permitted to will inconsiderately? By no means; but to be
instructed is this, to learn to wish that everything may happen as it does. And how do things happen? As the disposer has disposed them? And he
has appointed summer and winter, and abundance and scarcity, and virtue and vice, and all such opposites for the harmony of the whole; and to
each of us he has given a body, and parts of the body, and possessions, and companions.
What then remains, or what method is discovered of holding commerce with them? Is there such a method by which they shall do what seems fit
to them, and we not the less shall be in a mood which is conformable to nature? But you are unwilling to endure, and are discontented; and if you
are alone, you call it solitude; and if you are with men, you call them knaves and robbers; and you find fault with your own parents and children,
and brothers and neighbors. But you ought when you are alone to call this condition by the name of tranquillity and freedom, and to think yourself
like to the gods; and when you are with many, you ought not to call it crowd, nor trouble, nor uneasiness, but festival and assembly, and so accept
all contentedly.
What then is the punishment of those who do not accept? It is to be what they are. Is any person dissatisfied with being alone? Let him be alone.
Is a man dissatisfied with his parents? Let him be a bad son, and lament. Is he dissatisfied with his children? Let him be a bad father. Cast him into
prison. What prison? Where he is already, for he is there against his will; and where a man is against his will, there he is in prison. So Socrates was
not in prison, for he was there willingly. Must my leg then be lamed? Wretch, do you then on account of one poor leg find fault with the world?
Will you not willingly surrender it for the whole? Will you not withdraw from it? Will you not gladly part with it to him who gave it? And will you be
vexed and discontented with the things established by Zeus, which he, with the Moirae (fates) who were present and spinning the thread of your
generation, defined and put in order? Know you not how small a part you are compared with the whole. I mean with respect to the body, for as to
intelligence you are not inferior to the gods nor less; for the magnitude of intelligence is not measured by length nor yet by height, but by thoughts.
HOW EVERYTHING MAY BE DONE ACCEPTABLY TO THE GODS.—When some one asked, How may a man eat acceptably to the
gods, he answered: If he can eat justly and contentedly, and with equanimity, and temperately, and orderly, will it not be also acceptable to the
gods? But when you have asked for warm water and the slave has not heard, or if he did hear has brought only tepid water, or he is not even
found to be in the house, then not to be vexed or to burst with passion, is not this acceptable to the gods? How then shall a man endure such
persons as this slave? Slave yourself, will you not bear with your own brother, who has Zeus for his progenitor, and is like a son from the same
seeds and of the same descent from above? But if you have been put in any such higher place, will you immediately make yourself a tyrant? Will
you not remember who you are, and whom you rule? That they are kinsmen, that they are brethren by nature, that they are the offspring of Zeus?
But I have purchased them, and they have not purchased me. Do you see in what direction you are looking, that it is towards the earth, towards
the pit, that it is towards these wretched laws of dead men? but towards the laws of the gods you are not looking.
WHAT PHILOSOPHY PROMISES.—When a man was consulting him how he should persuade his brother to cease being angry with him,
Epictetus replied: Philosophy does not propose to secure for a man any external thing. If it did (or if it were not, as I say), philosophy would be
allowing something which is not within its province. For as the carpenter's material is wood, and that of the statuary is copper, so the matter of the
art of living is each man's life. When then is my brother's? That again belongs to his own art; but with respect to yours, it is one of the external
things, like a piece of land, like health, like reputation. But Philosophy promises none of these. In every circumstance I will maintain, she says, the
governing part conformable to nature. Whose governing part? His in whom I am, she says.
How then shall my brother cease to be angry with me? Bring him to me and I will tell him. But I have nothing to say to you about his anger.
When the man who was consulting him said, I seek to know this, How, even if my brother is not reconciled to me, shall I maintain myself in a
state conformable to nature? Nothing great, said Epictetus, is produced suddenly, since not even the grape or the fig is. If you say to me now that
you want a fig, I will answer to you that it requires time: let it flower first, then put forth fruit, and then ripen. Is then the fruit of a fig-tree not
perfected suddenly and in one hour, and would you possess the fruit of a man's mind in so short a time and so easily? Do not expect it, even if I tell
you.
THAT WE OUGHT NOT TO BE ANGRY WITH THE ERRORS (FAULTS) OF OTHERS.—Ought not then this robber and this adulterer
to be destroyed? By no means say so, but speak rather in this way: This man who has been mistaken and deceived about the most important
things, and blinded, not in the faculty of vision which distinguishes white and black, but in the faculty which distinguishes good and bad, should we
not destroy him? If you speak thus you will see how inhuman this is which you say, and that it is just as if you would say, Ought we not to destroy
this blind and deaf man? But if the greatest harm is the privation of the greatest things, and the greatest thing in every man is the will or choice such
as it ought to be, and a man is deprived of this will, why are you also angry with him? Man, you ought not to be affected contrary to nature by the
bad things of another. Pity him rather; drop this readiness to be offended and to hate, and these words which the many utter: "These accursed and
odious fellows." How have you been made so wise at once? and how are you so peevish? Why then are we angry? Is it because we value so
much the things of which these men rob us? Do not admire your clothes, and then you will not be angry with the thief. Consider this matter thus:
you have fine clothes; your neighbor has not; you have a window; you wish to air the clothes. The thief does not know wherein man's good
consists, but he thinks that it consist in having fine clothes, the very thing which you also think. Must he not then come and take them away? When
you show a cake to greedy persons, and swallow it all yourself, do you expect them not to snatch it from you? Do not provoke them; do not have
a window; do not air your clothes. I also lately had an iron lamp placed by the side of my household gods; hearing a noise at the door, I ran down,
and found that the lamp had been carried off. I reflected that he who had taken the lamp had done nothing strange. What then? To-morrow, I said,
you will find an earthen lamp; for a man only loses that which he has. I have lost my garment. The reason is that you had a garment. I have a pain in
my head. Have you any pain in your horns? Why then are you troubled? For we only lose those things, we have only pains about those things,
which we possess.
But the tyrant will chain—what? The leg. He will take away—what? The neck. What then will he not chain and not take away? The will. This is
why the ancients taught the maxim, Know thyself. Therefore we ought to exercise ourselves in small things, and beginning with them to proceed to
the greater. I have pain in the head. Do not say, Alas! I have pain in the ear. Do not say alas! And I do not say that you are not allowed to groan,
but do not groan inwardly; and if your slave is slow in bringing a bandage, do not cry out and torment yourself, and say, Every body hates me; for
who would not hate such a man? For the future, relying on these opinions, walk about upright, free; not trusting to the size of your body, as an
athlete, for a man ought not to be invincible in the way that an ass is.
HOW WE SHOULD BEHAVE TO TYRANTS.—If a man possesses any superiority, or thinks that he does when he does not, such a man, if
he is uninstructed, will of necessity be puffed up through it. For instance, the tyrant says, I am master of all! And what can you do for me? Can you
give me desire which shall have no hindrance? How can you? Have you the infallible power of avoiding what you would avoid? Have you the
power of moving towards an object without error? And how do you possess this power? Come, when you are in a ship, do you trust to yourself
or to the helmsman? And when you are in a chariot, to whom do you trust but to the driver? And how is it in all other arts? Just the same. In what,
then, lies your power? All men pay respect to me. Well, I also pay respect to my platter, and I wash it and wipe it; and for the sake of my oil-flask,
I drive a peg into the wall. Well, then, are these things superior to me? No, but they supply some of my wants, and for this reason I take care of
them. Well, do I not attend to my ass? Do I not wash his feet? Do I not clean him? Do you not know that every man has regard to himself, and to
you just the same as he has regard to his ass? For who has regard to you as a man? Show me. Who wishes to become like you? Who imitates
you, as he imitates Socrates? But I can cut off your head. You say right. I had forgotten that I must have regard to you, as I would to a fever and
the bile, and raise an altar to you, as there is at Rome an altar to fever.
What is it then that disturbs and terrifies the multitude? Is it the tyrant and his guards? (By no means.) I hope that it is not so. It is not possible
that what is by nature free can be disturbed by anything else, or hindered by any other thing than by itself. But it is a man's own opinions which
disturb him. For when the tyrant says to a man, I will chain your leg, he who values his leg says, Do not; have pity. But he who values his own will
says, If it appears more advantageous to you, chain it. Do you not care? I do not care. I will show you that I am master. You cannot do that. Zeus
has set me free; do you think that he intended to allow his own son to be enslaved? But you are master of my carcase; take it. So when you
approach me, you have no regard to me? No, but I have regard to myself; and if you wish me to say that I have regard to you also, I tell you that I
have the same regard to you that I have to my pipkin.
What then? When absurd notions about things independent of our will, as if they were good and (or) bad, lie at the bottom of our opinions, we
must of necessity pay regard to tyrants: for I wish that men would pay regard to tyrants only, and not also to the bedchamber men. How is it that
the man becomes all at once wise, when Cæsar has made him superintendent of the close stool? How is it that we say immediately, Felicion spoke
sensibly to me? I wish he were ejected from the bedchamber, that he might again appear to you to be a fool.
Has a man been exalted to the tribuneship? All who meet him offer their congratulations; one kisses his eyes, another the neck, and the slaves
kiss his hands. He goes to his house, he finds torches lighted. He ascends the Capitol; he offers a sacrifice on the occasion. Now who ever
sacrificed for having had good desires? for having acted conformably to nature? For in fact we thank the gods for those things in which we place
our good.
A person was talking to me to-day about the priesthood of Augustus. I say to him: Man, let the thing alone; you will spend much for no purpose.
But he replies, Those who draw up agreements will write my name. Do you then stand by those who read them, and say to such persons, It is I
whose name is written there? And if you can now be present on ail such occasions, what will you do when you are dead? My name will remain.
Write it on a stone, and it will remain. But come, what remembrance of you will there be beyond Nicopolis? But I shall wear a crown of gold. If
you desire a crown at all, take a crown of roses and put it on, for it will be more elegant in appearance.
AGAINST THOSE WHO WISH TO BE ADMIRED.—When a man holds his proper station in life, he does not gape after things beyond it.
Man, what do you wish to happen to you? I am satisfied if I desire and avoid conformably to nature, if I employ movements towards and from an
object as I am by nature formed to do, and purpose and design and assent. Why then do you strut before us as if you had swallowed a spit? My
wish has always been that those who meet me should admire me, and those who follow me should exclaim, O the great philosopher! Who are they
by whom you wish to be admired? Are they not those of whom you are used to say that they are mad? Well, then, do you wish to be admired by
madmen?
ON PRÆCOGNITIONS.—Præcognitions are common to all men, and præcognition is not contradictory to præcognition. For who of us does
not assume that Good is useful and eligible, and in all circumstances that we ought to follow and pursue it? And who of us does not assume that
Justice is beautiful and becoming? When then does the contradiction arise? It arises in the adaptation of the præcognitions to the particular cases.
When one man says, "He has done well; he is a brave man," and another says, "Not so; but he has acted foolishly," then the disputes arise among
men. This is the dispute among the Jews and the Syrians and the Egyptians and the Romans; not whether holiness should be preferred to all things
and in all cases should be pursued, but whether it is holy to eat pig's flesh or not holy. You will find this dispute also between Agamemnon and
Achilles; for call them forth. What do you say, Agamemnon? ought not that to be done which is proper and right? "Certainly." Well, what do you
say, Achilles? do you not admit that what is good ought to be done? "I do most certainly." Adapt your præcognitions then to the present matter.
Here the dispute begins. Agamemnon says, "I ought not to give up Chryseis to her father." Achilles says, "You ought." It is certain that one of the
two makes a wrong adaptation of the præcognition of "ought" or "duty." Further, Agamemnon says, "Then if I ought to restore Chryseis, it is fit that
I take his prize from some of you." Achilles replies, "Would you then take her whom I love?" "Yes, her whom you love." "Must I then be the only
man who goes without a prize? and must I be the only man who has no prize?" Thus the dispute begins.
What then is education? Education is the learning how to adapt the natural præcognitions to the particular things conformably to nature; and then
to distinguish that of things some are in our power, but others are not. In our power are will and all acts which depend on the will; things not in our
power are the body, the parts of the body, possessions, parents, brothers, children, country, and, generally, all with whom we live in society. In
what then should we place the good? To what kind of things ([Greek: ousia]) shall we adapt it? To the things which are in our power? Is not health
then a good thing, and soundness of limb, and life, and are not children and parents and country? Who will tolerate you if you deny this?
Let us then transfer the notion of good to these things. Is it possible, then, when a man sustains damage and does not obtain good things, that he
can be happy? It is not possible. And can he maintain towards society a proper behavior? He can not. For I am naturally formed to look after my
own interest. If it is my interest to have an estate in land, it is my interest also to take it from my neighbor. If it is my interest to have a garment, it is
my interest also to steal it from the bath. This is the origin of wars, civil commotions, tyrannies, conspiracies. And how shall I be still able to
maintain my duty towards Zeus? For if I sustain damage and am unlucky, he takes no care of me. And what is he to me if he cannot help me? And
further, what is he to me if he allows me to be in the condition in which I am? I now begin to hate him. Why then do we build temples, why setup
statues to Zeus, as well as to evil demons, such as to Fever; and how is Zeus the Saviour, and how the giver of rain, and the giver of fruits? And in
truth if we place the nature of Good in any such things, all this follows.
What should we do then? This is the inquiry of the true philosopher who is in labor. Now I do not see what the good is nor the bad. Am I not
mad? Yes. But suppose that I place the good somewhere among the things which depend on the will; all will laugh at me. There will come some
greyhead wearing many gold rings on his fingers, and he will shake his head and say: "Hear, my child. It is right that you should philosophize; but
you ought to have some brains also; all this that you are doing is silly. You learn the syllogism from philosophers; but you know how to act better
than philosophers do." Man why then do you blame me, if I know? What shall I say to this slave? If I am silent, he will burst. I must speak in this
way: "Excuse me, as you would excuse lovers; I am not my own master; I am mad."
HOW WE SHOULD STRUGGLE WITH CIRCUMSTANCES.—It is circumstances (difficulties) which show what men are. Therefore when
a difficulty falls upon you, remember that God, like a trainer of wrestlers, has matched you with a rough young man. For what purpose? you may
say. Why, that you may become an Olympic conqueror; but it is not accomplished without sweat. In my opinion no man has had a more profitable
difficulty than you have had, if you choose to make use of it as an athlete would deal with a young antagonist. We are now sending a scout to
Rome; but no man sends a cowardly scout, who, if he only hears a noise and sees a shadow anywhere, comes running back in terror and reports
that the enemy is close at hand. So now if you should come and tell us: "Fearful is the state of affairs at Rome; terrible is death; terrible is exile;
terrible is calumny; terrible is poverty; fly, my friends, the enemy is near," we shall answer: "Begone, prophesy for yourself; we have committed
only one fault, that we sent such a scout."
Diogenes, who was sent as a scout before you, made a different report to us. He says that death is no evil, for neither is it base; he says that
fame (reputation) is the noise of madmen. And what has this spy said about pain, about pleasure, and about poverty? He says that to be naked is
better than any purple robe, and to sleep on the bare ground is the softest bed; and he gives as a proof of each thing that he affirms his own
courage, his tranquillity, his freedom, and the healthy appearance and compactness of his body. There is no enemy near, he says; all is peace. How
so, Diogenes? "See," he replies, "if I am struck, if I have been wounded, if I have fled from any man." This is what a scout ought to be. But you
come to us and tell us one thing after another. Will you not go back, and you will see clearer when you have laid aside fear?
ON THE SAME.—If these things are true, and if we are not silly, and are not acting hypocritically when we say that the good of man is in the
will, and the evil too, and that everything else does not concern us, why are we still disturbed, why are we s...
